April was born in 1963 to a family of fifteen and was whangai (adopted) at birth. For many years she was subject to serious violence and abuse.

It was not until she was turning 50 and her daughter was ready to leave home that she realised that she was depressed and “didn’t have a life.” So she enrolled in an 8-week course called New Outlook for Women at the Next Steps Centre for Women at CPIT (now Ara). “This is when I realised my true passion,” she said. “I learnt that my past is nothing to be ashamed of “it was actually my resume.”

April then did the Centre’s Updating Skills course “to action my new found passion to enter the field of domestic violence and use my life experience to help others lead a non-violent life.”

In 2013 she won a Next Steps Centre scholarship and went on to complete her Certificate in Human Services, leading to employment as a Women’s Refuge Peer Support Specialist for Domestic Violence: “Now I could walk beside women and Māori men,” she said, “using my life experience to help them help themselves.” She returns to the centre each year to share her story with the new students motivating them “to make more of their lives, and also very importantly to provide a vehicle for support from domestic violence.”

April concluded by saying: “If I could leave you with one thing this morning, I hope my story has illustrated how valuable and important adult and community education is throughout New Zealand and how much it needs to remain.”